Dhaka: India today handed over two Bangladeshis, wanted in several criminal cases, to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police here.

Kolkata police handed over alleged gangsters -- Sanjidul Islam Imon and Ishak Hossain -- to Bangladeshi CID officials after their arrest last month from the West Bengal capital and Puri in Orissa, officials said here.

They are wanted in several criminal charges including murders. Imon alone was wanted in 12 murder cases, a CID official said. He said India returned the alleged criminals, the third such incident in recent months.

Indian CID officials last month handed over Rafiq Mallik and Babul alias Jewel, alleged accomplices of high-profile absconding gangster Khandaker Tanveerul Islam Joy, to their counterparts in Bangladesh.

Earlier on October 7,2007, they sent back three wanted suspected criminals. Bangladesh earlier said dozens of gangsters took refuge in Kolkata and other West Bengal towns as an intensified anti-crime campaign was launched following January 11 proclamation of state of emergency.

Dhaka in several phases handed over lists of 373 suspected criminals in the past several months to India. Bangladesh recently sought Interpol assistance to return two Harkatul Jihad al-Islami (HuJi) operatives believed to be hiding in India.

Source : PTI